13 things to do before the first day of school #b2s The entire list is updated today! 16 Ideas for Student Projects using Google Docs, Slides, and Forms Pretty cool ideas! And can be used for other pieces of software. Highlight rows in Google Sheets with conditional formatting This is one of the most popular…
This is part 13 of 13 things to do before the first day of school. Everyone likes a last hurrah of summer, before getting back into the swing of school. My wife, she likes to watch The Dead Poets Society, whereas I prefer Rodney Dangerfield’s masterpiece, Back to School. Other activities could include clothes shopping, napping, and…
This is part 12 of 13 things to do before the first day of school. Awwwee, the first week of school. The students are optimistic and bright eyed, while the long days take a toll on the teachers. What better way to survive the first week than to plan ahead? This is straight forward for many…
Getting out of the classroom can benefit everyone — both teachers and students. Fresh air and fresh perspectives combine to allow for new types of creativity, for play, and for a chance to connect learning to life. The best of these apps help harness what kids are learning outside so they can bring it back…
Building a catapult that can hit a target at one, three and five meters is a core project of Ben Smith’s engineering class. When the project is assigned, groups get to work inventing a mechanism that will meet the objectives, often coming up with ingenious ideas. But when Smith noticed his students were increasingly asking…
This is part 11 of 13 things to do before the first day of school. Holidays have a tendency to sneak up on us. I’ve lost track of the number of times that I’ve missed out on doing something in my classroom because I didn’t know it was a holiday. What I’ve started to do…
In a world where so much knowledge is a two-second search away, many schools are losing interest in models that promote static learning to know. They’re looking to embrace dynamic models that promote learning to do and learning to be. Project-Based Learning (PBL) allows learners to develop skills by solving meaningful, real-world challenges , i.e. organizing…
When Jacqui Young studied pre-calculus as a high school junior, she found the experience unexpectedly fulfilling. She didn’t consider herself a “math person,” but pre-calc came more easily to her than it did to most of her peers, and she spent a lot of time helping fellow students grasp the concepts. “It felt good to…
This is part 10 of 13 things to do before the first day of school. Social media is not only a great way to showcase your student’s work, but also a good way to build a support network or personal learning network (PLN). I would recommend you create at least two accounts, a professional account and…
Providing opportunities for students to make and create is essential in 21st-century classrooms. Children of all ages should experience the joy of seeing their work shared and celebrated. Classrooms with access to a variety of different tools have plenty of tech tool options. Source: 6 Must-Have Creation Tools for the BYOD Classroom Don’t look at…